Tom Guilfoy Memorial Craftsmanship Award
Created in 1996, this annual award was in memory of Tom Guilfoy, owner of 100 year old Guilfoy Cornice Works in San Francisco. This award is for any project where attention to detail and expertise was critical to the project and exemplifies teamwork between sheet metal workers and the contractor and the contractor and owner.
This award is presented annually for any type of work in the HVAC, Specialty, Industrial, Kitchen or Architectural fields. Projects entered will be judged on the skill and expertise exhibited to complete the project, regardless of how big or small. There are two main categories – mechanical and architectural, along with a creative concepts category to recognize exceptional projects falling outside of the mechanical and architectural categories.
2025 Guilfoy Award Submissions for Projects Completed in 2024
2025 Winner – Architectural Category
The 2025 Tom Guilfoy Craftsmanship Award in the Architectural category was awarded to California Sheet Metal for the Bioterra Lifescience Building project located in San Diego, California.
The winning project was selected for the fantastic workmanship, collaboration, and the complexity of the project.
The unique geometry of the panels involved precise notching and CNC located bend lines, for down stream forming.
A 3-person team handled the forming process, efficiently producing up to 70 fully formed panels per day.
To maintain quality, every 10 completed parts were tested by assembling them into a control panel. This ensured consistency across all panels before moving to the next stages of production.
The Aluminum Trellis is a striking architectural feature that seamlessly integrates design and functionality. It was crafted to reflect the same angular profile as the metal panels beneath it, maintaining a cohesive visual alignment.
Ensuring that all flange dimensions met precise tolerances was critical to the alignment of tabs and slots, allowing panel faces to sit flush. This challenge was addressed through rigorous testing and leveraging advanced equipment to maintain dimensional accuracy and repeatability.
To harmonize with the natural beauty of the surrounding Torrey Pines, the design incorporated features that mimicked the local landscape. The panels were carefully crafted and finished to replicate the natural colors and textures of the Torrey Pine, blending the architectural elements seamlessly with the environment. This required a deep understanding of the local flora and a meticulous approach to color matching and texturing, ensuring that the building not only stood out as an architectural marvel but also complemented its natural surroundings.
Number of Man Hours Spent: 21,577
2025 Winner – Mechanical Category
The 2025 Tom Guilfoy Craftsmanship award in the Mechanical category was awarded to Southland Industries for the Intuit Dome project in Ingelwood, CA.
This winner was chosen due to the project’s complexity, collaboration, and craftsmanship.
Delivered through a design-bid-build contract, the mechanical contractor was responsible for the mechanical ductwork and piping installation.
Other scopes of work included: Underground ductwork installation and crane coordination; High bay overhead installation of ductwork, exhaust fans, and air handling units; Precast concrete seating coordination.
Over 600 linear feet of underground ductwork was installed to serve the over 8,000 under seat grilles to provide a more direct airflow and temperature control to all fans.
Careful coordination to install over 8,000 spun aluminum round grilles. Installing inserts directly into the concrete forms prior to pouring, we provided a seamless and cost-effective installation for the supply air distribution.
Installation included over 8,000 bowl grille diffusers, 38 grease scrubbers serving 31 kitchens and 42 AHUs serving 7 floors and 18,000 seats.
High smoke exhaust system duct was installed over 160 ft above finished floor. Early coordination between the steel contractor and general contractor ensured that the duct was installed before the roof.
Number of Man Hours Spent: 189,000
Past recipients of this award include:
2024 Architectural – VNSM – Regional Connector Transportation Corridor, Los Angeles, CA
Mechanical – Control Air Enterprises – UCSF Zuckerberg General Pride Hall, San Francisco, CA
2023 Architectural – California Sheet Metal – The Grand LA, Los Angeles, CA
Mechanical – ACCO Engineered Systems – The Grand LA, Los Angeles, CA
Creative Concept – G.E.S. Sheet Metal – MLK Child and Family Wellbeing Center, Los Angeles, CA
2022 Architectural – VNSM – Disney Avengers Campus, Anaheim, CA
Mechanical – Southland Industries, Inc. – Bayside Campus, Mountain View, CA
Creative Concept – CMF, Inc. – Ruby’s Diner, Brea, CA
2021 Architectural – California Sheet Metal – Seritage at UTC, San Diego, CA
Creative Concepts– Therma – Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 104 Livermore Hall, Livermore, CA
2020 Architectural – California Sheet Metal – UTC Residential Tower, San Diego, CA
Mechanical – Southland Industries, Inc. – Gilead NB324, Foster City, CA
2019 Architectural –CMF, Inc.– Cal Poly Pomona Student Services Building, Pomona, CA
Mechanical – Southland Industries, Inc.– Sutter Health CPMC Van Ness Campus Hospital, San Francisco, CA
2018 Architectural –CMF, Inc.– Apple Park, Cupertino, CA
Mechanical – ACCO Engineered Systems– USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Architectural –California Sheet Metal– Eli Lilly at Campus Pointe, San Diego, CA
Mechanical – University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors– UC San Diego, Jacobs Medical Center, La Jolla, CA
2016 Architectural –G.E.S. Sheet Metal– IAC Building, West Hollywood, CA
Mechanical – Control Air North, Inc.– Samsung American Headquarters, San Jose, CA
2015 ACCO Engineered Systems– Levi Stadium Home of the San Francisco 49ers, Santa Clara, CA
2014 Architectural –California Sheet Metal– San Diego Central New Library, San Diego, CA
Mechanical – Control Air North, Inc.– Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, Oakland, CA
2013 Architectural –Air Systems of Sacramento– William Jessup University Expansion, Rocklin, CA
Mechanical – ACCO Engineered Systems– Cedars Sinai Advanced Health Science Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Architectural –Brady Air Conditioning, Inc.– 1905 Samuel Murphy Windmill Restoration Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA
Mechanical– Control Air North, Inc.– Li Ka-Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences at UC Berkley, Berkley, CA
2011 Architectural –CMF, Inc.– Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
Mechanical – Key Air Conditioning, Inc.– Tom Bradley International Interior Improvement, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Architectural –Air Systems, Inc.– Target Store, Sunnyvale, CA
Mechanical – Marelich Mechanical, Inc.– GLAVC Veterans Home of California, West Los Angeles, CA
2009 CMF, Inc.– Los Angeles High School #9 for the Visual and Performing Arts, Central Los Angeles, CA
2008 Control Air North, Inc.– California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA
2007 Air Systems Inc.– Harborwalk Condominiums, Oakland, CA
2006 Weiss Sheet Metal Company– Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA
2005 Custom Metal Fabricators, Inc.– Millennium Park BP Pedestrian Bridge, Chicago, IL